


Nonfiction

by themostcleverandwittyname



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Character into reality au, F/M, Fluff, Romance with little plot, Slow Burn, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-04 20:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14028294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themostcleverandwittyname/pseuds/themostcleverandwittyname
Summary: Seven finally did it after months of agonizing, he was finally able to get to her world.Things don't go his way when he realizes that she refuses to believe that he is actually the real Seven from her game. Will he ever be able to gain her trust or will he push her away with his ridiculous claims?Or will it even matter if he was from a game afterall?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I was inspired by one of these aus on tumblr and decided to give it a go. I have no clue how long this will be.

The night was anything but dark under the light of the city and the large flood lights of the 24 hour gas station. The pumps were empty and the neon open sign cast a blue and red light on the newspaper stands metallic surface. Slowly, a tired and nonchalant gas station employee carried a broom out into the parking lot and sidewalk leading into the convenience store. The bright fluorescent lights lit up the sidewalk even from outside, a beacon to the few cars still driving in the late hours of the night.

The employee got to work sweeping up bandaids, wrappers, cigarette butts, and empty plastic bottles from the sidewalk, numb to the chill of the night and the repetitive action of sweeping. A strange sound alerted the attention of the lazy man, a sound like static, small electric sparks cracking in the air. He looked at the open sign and one of the long fluorescent bulbs above his head to determine where the sound was coming from. He could see anything and made a mental note to complain to his manager later. 

He continued sweeping, but didn’t drop his guard waiting for the sound to begin again. The sparking started again and he froze in spot, trying to detect the exact location, hoping the discovery of some impending electrical disaster would earn him respect. The sound grew and without much of a transition from barely audible to absolutely deafening, the sparking static ripped through the air and was followed by a burst of green light from directly behind the man. 

Spinning around, he held the broom out like a sword, anything sufficient to protect him. The green light clung to the figure of a man that had appeared right behind him, curling around in little electric tendrils, each tendril that appeared grew duller and duller until the last one faded, the man looking in amazement at his own hands. 

The employee backed away, fearful of the man who had just appeared there. The man had messy red hair and golden brown eyes that laid behind bulky fashionable tortoiseshell glasses. He was wearing some kind of geeky, black hoodie with yellow circles on the shoulder and the same yellow as embellishments around the hood. Under that, it was just a red shirt and rough blue jeans. The man stumbled back in amazement, looking even more shocked at his own appearance than the employee did.

“It worked! Oh my god, it worked! I’m here!” he exclaimed, reaching up to touch his own face and chest to further prove his own words. He looked up and noticed the employee standing there in shock. He took a step closer and the broom was wielded higher, the man not trusting the nutcase in front of him. 

The redhead realized his current situation, having appeared insane to the person in front of him. He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his hoodie pockets.

“Um, I mean...Yay, I’m here! My favorite convenience store. I need some PHD Pepper.” he said and the employee lowered the broom, his cautious gaze still on the man. He held his finger up and pointed at him with accusation.

“Didn’t you just zap outta thin air? Like some kinda wack time traveler from the future?” he accused, placing the broom on the ground momentarily. The man who was brought into this dimensional plane of existence only seconds ago shook his head and shrugged.

“Nope! I just walked up, didn’t you see me?” he shuffled his feet, “Well, I’ve got places to be, things to buy.” he beamed, trying to convince the man.

“Yeah… okay. Whatever you said before, PCP Pepper… yeah, we don’t have that. We only have Doctor Pepper, Coca Cola, Pepsi, and Mr. Pibb.” he said, opening the door after leaning the broom against the outside wall.

“Good! I’ve always wanted to taste copyright infringement soda.”


	2. A strange cosplay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven busts up in cosplay and Myung isn't impressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo. Im back with another fic haha I can't control myself. 
> 
> This one will hurt a bit, but its worth it after the agony of writing a Seven in my main fic that is just miserable.
> 
> So Seven fans, buckle up and get ready!

He had done it. It had taken months of hard preparation but his was it! He had tried this several times and it had never been successful but this time, the numbers weren’t wrong. He put on his best face as he watched her romance Yoosung, Jaehee, Jumin, even his own brother but none of that mattered. None of them knew what he did, that they were trapped in the confines of an alternate reality with ties to one other, the real reality. Everyday he yearned to see her, the real her, the one above the predetermined answers and he wanted to meet her beyond the bad end, good end, and normal end. Every day his own movements were restricted in the confines of the game. When she wasn’t playing the game, he could work silently in darkness, but more often than not, she was playing through some kind of dlc or bad end. 

 

He could never complain when she distracted him from his work of finding a way to meet her, because each time she started another route, he could be close to her. He was the only one that could hear her laughter through the screen, see her cry through the front facing camera. At first, he hated this. It was unfamiliar and he couldn’t figure out how his world confined in pixels and text could be so disrupted without the other members realizing this themselves. He slowly began to realize that all his memories of past times were fake, all of the time with the RFA just a plot point that he had almost believed.

 

In fact, the day she opened the app and began playing was the day that it all became clear.

 

It was the day he was born, the day he was brought into existence. None of the other stuff was real. None of the other members thought for themselves, they were also just an accumulation of text and pixels. He didn’t have a backstory, no brother, no family, just a preset personality and some divine understanding that he couldn’t comprehend himself. He lived because of her. He felt because of her, before having no real emotions or free will. 

 

Despite this, the confines of that reality still restricted him from having a true free will to act on his emotions.There were only few times he could break the confines in a way that correlated his his preset personality, poking at the truth with well placed jokes. It was all he could do.  He could feel but he could never truly express himself until his route. He could only channel so much love through the screen, but he could never tell if she felt it. She had cried in his route for his sake, but more for the sake of his made up past, for his plot. She could never know his struggles or his love for her.

 

But, there was one time, just one time she cried not because of the contents of the story.

 

No, one time she cried because without him, she had admitted aloud to her phone that she felt terribly lonely to leave him behind, to end the game without him. She had grown so fond of him, she didn’t want to game to end. So she cried.

 

He remembered that day and it fueled him on, fueled him to come up with some way to follow that small possibility that she could ever see him in reality. He wanted to clutch onto her and thank her a million times over, he dared to hope that she might hug him back. He wanted to praise and cherish her, spend all of his free time and freed emotions loving her and helping her. Just living in a world where he could see her in a reality that he could reach out and touch her seemed overwhelmingly perfect. Before, he could never touch her skin or let her hear his voice. Deep down, he knew it wouldn’t be that simple. He couldn’t run up to her and let all his emotions overflow on her when they first meet, he can’t be too overbearing to scare her away.

 

And so, with nervous hesitation, he entered the doors of her university in hopes to find her and meet her. He was shaking with excitement and nervousness as he scanned the people in the student lounge.

 

Somehow, he prayed that she could accept him and maybe even feel a sliver of the way he felt about her.

 

* * *

  
  


“Hey Myung! You know that character you like from that game? I saw someone here cosplaying him earlier. Just thought you should know!” Her classmate announced, pulling a chair up next to her at the table. The buzz of the student lounge was as normal, students talking about class and gossiping, some buried silently in work or phones. She looked up from her laptop in slight interest, anything interesting enough to distract her from her ridiculous writing assignment. The girl smiled and slung her bag onto the table, her dyed auburn hair thrown into a messy bun.

 

“What game? I love a thousand games. If you’re talking about that one guy with the overalls, he’s actually not cosplaying Mario. That’s just his style.” she stated, glancing at the time. She had thirty minutes until she had to go to class. Her friend shook her head and glanced at the other girl who had been seated with her, her dyed blonde hair pulled into a neat ponytail as she skimmed through her blog dashboard.

 

“Yeah, you can’t forget Myung is a fucking straight up video game nerd.” Her blonde friend teased. Myung playfully rolled her eyes and the auburn haired girl laughed along. She took the last bite from a chocolate bar and crumpled the wrapper into her hand.

 

“Anyways, which character was it, Yuki? Give me a description.” she said, still smiling at her ridiculous friends. She had to think about a good description for a moment, fiddling with her purse straps.

 

“Um, it’s one of those phone app games. It's the one that makes you stay up all night. The guy had red hair and like a hoodie, like that!” she stated, pointing at a pin on Myung’s bag. Oh, that clears it up. She looked at the pin of one of her favorite characters and nodded.

 

“Alrighty, that’s cool. Why today, do you know if there are any events here for cosplay?” she asked, looking around to catch any glimpse of someone else dressed up. There was no one out of the ordinary and no one seemed to be wearing any sort of costume. Yuki shrugged and pulled out her phone. 

 

“I have no clue. If I knew in advance, I would have dressed up too. I’ve been really obsessed with American superhero movies lately and I’ve been working on an Iron Man costume for myself.” she said, non committed to her own words. Seongeun spoke up from over her phone, her eyes beaming with excitement.

 

“I reached 3k followers! I’m so happy, omg.” Saying the omg as it’s spelled, she made it obvious she had been super fazed out to their conversation. Yuki spoke up and congratulated her for her success as Myung stood, gathering the blonde’s candy wrappers along with her own. She didn’t have much time until class began and she had to go print something for reference. She swung her bag over her shoulder after shoving her laptop into it. 

 

She distractedly uttered a goodbye and Seongeun and Yuki and watched as they halfheartedly acknowledged her in their conversation. 

 

She turned and crashed into something that stopped her in her stride. Funny, she hadn’t remembered there being a wall directly behind her. What suggested that she had not run into a wall was that the wall wrapped its arms around her in a tight hug before she could respond. What in the actual...? She heard Seongeun gasp and Yuki fell silent.

 

“That’s him!” Yuki shouted out, and Myung pushed the surprise attack hugger away from her, wearing an expression of shock and disbelief. Had someone really just run up and hugged her? 

 

When she processed that the person in front of her was not someone she knew or gave permission to touch her, she studied the man’s disappointed face. He was very handsome, she realised, almost stunningly so but in a natural way. His golden eyes were framed by red, curly hair and he was in fact in cosplay, wearing a hoodie and glasses just like the character she was so fond of. His cross necklace glinted on his red shirt and the familiar orange headphones lay nested around his neck. He held his hands out, still seemingly shocked that she pushed him away.

 

She must admit, it was a good costume. Very convincing, as if he had not bought it from a store. Very well done, but why had he hugged her like that!? You don’t just grab people. Perhaps one of her friends had pulled a trick on her and had someone dress up and come greet her, like a stripper gram but not original. That must be it. She looked over her shoulder at her friends in bewilderment at the strange event that just happened to her, to see if they too saw what she had. She looked back at him, who dejectedly dropped his hands to his side.

 

“Um, okay? That just happened. Who asked you to do this?” She tilted her head, ready to go chew out whichever one of her bitchass, traitor friends pulled this stupid prank on her. She wore the smile of evil, the promise that she was going to kill her friend but she was not going to take it out on the poor guy that was probably paid to do this. 

 

“No one asked me to do this? I shouldn’t have hugged you like that, but I couldn’t help myself. Myung, don’t you recognize me?” his voice shaked as he spoke, he hung on whatever response she would give, his golden eyes wide with anticipation. She gave him a funny look.

 

“Should I recognise you?” she asked, trying to not come across as being rude but she really didn’t recognise him. She had never seen him before. Hurt flashed across his face and she felt a twinge of guilt. Before the man got a word in, Myung’s blonde friend stood and began snapping, on the defense for her friend.

 

“Excuse you? You can’t just hug her?! This isn’t an all you can eat buffet. Guys are always thinking they’re entitled to touch a woman without permission and I’m here to tell you that....” she trailed off and turned to Myung, leaning in to whisper very loudly into her ear, maintaining a low voice impossible for her.

 

“Myung, look at him. He’s gorgeous. Maybe you should let him hug you again, just saying. You might actually get a boyfriend and then you could finally try not being a stuck up virgin and-!” she cut her off, her “whisper” loud enough for the stranger to hear clearly. Her glare silenced her.

 

“Seongeun, shut up.” she growled out between closed teeth, “He can hear you and also that’s absurd.” her growl ended there and she turned to the guy whose face was tinged pink at her friend’s words. Great, she had embarrassed him.

 

“Look, I’m sorry. Whoever told you to come over and do this, I’m sorry they bothered you and I’m sorry for my friend. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to print something.” she said and gave no one a chance to respond at all. She set off, hoping to get to the print room quickly just in case there was a line of other students using the printer.

 

She hadn’t noticed that she had someone follow her until she got into the print room, the air cold and damp. She turned on the light and expected to hear the heavy metal door shut behind her, but someone had caught it. She glanced over her shoulder to the the red head had followed her. Why had he bothered? 

 

“We need to talk. Is now a good time?” his voice came out low and pained and she herself couldn’t understand why he seemed so distressed. Something about him did feel only slightly familiar, despite his obvious costume, but she was certain she had never met him before. That was probably her friend’s plan, whoever they were, to pick someone she didn’t know and couldn’t call out.

 

She set her bag down and pulled her laptop out, temporarily ignoring him as she set up the print.

 

“Go ahead. I’m busy, so say what you need to.” she permitted him, casting a glance away from him in the direction of the printer. Her attention snapped back to the man when his hands pulled her own from her keyboard and held them tenderly. His expression was grave as he scanned her face. What was he doing?

 

“You really don’t know who I am?” he almost whined out, his tone serious. If this was a joke, then this guy is a great actor. She didn’t answer and just stared at him in amazement and she felt herself feel a twinge of curiosity. What was he getting at?

 

“Myung, it’s me. It’s me, Seven, Saeyoung.” 

 

She couldn’t help herself, she burst out laughing. It wasn’t because this was funny, but it was so ridiculous that it was hard not to laugh. He recoiled at her reaction, but his hold on her hands still remained. 

 

“Seriously, who put you up to this? Did they pay you? If you’re not a drama student, you should change your major.” she laughed aloud, waiting for the guy to drop his facade any moment and say “haha, gotcha.”. However, with the passing seconds, his expression remained and that same hurt she had seen before deepened in his eyes. It was very convincing.

 

“I’m telling the truth. No one set me up to anything, I came here for you. You’ve already helped me so much so I wanted to meet you. I know it’s hard to believe, it’s hard for me to believe too, but you have to. I want you to understand how much I care for you.” he continued on and her smile dropped. This was getting old. He had tightened his grip on her wrists and pulled her closer, still trying to convince her despite his hands shaking. 

 

“Alright. That’s enough. You can drop the act, you’re not going to convince me. I’ll tell whoever arranged this that I was surprised, okay? I need to get my print now.” she urged but he didn’t let up and she was beginning to get creeped out. His grip tightened more and his desperation was starting to show. Surely this act doesn’t matter that much...unless he wasn’t acting.

 

Was this some kind of scheme to get her attention, some kind of convoluted romantic way to pursue her? Like how some guys do that cringey role play thing in texts with the asteriks? 

 

“Please believe me. I can prove it, I can prove that I’m not acting. I’m really the person you talked to in the game. I’m really Seven and I’m here for you. I need for you to understand.” he pleaded on, his desperate words came out fast and borderline panicked. She shook her head and pulled her hands away. 

 

“Prove it? I can prove it right now. Watch.” she reached her hands up to his hair and tangled her fingers in the locks, pulling upwards. The wig was not snatched off as she had expected it to, but rather stayed firmly in place and her gesture earned a yelp from the man. 

 

_ Oops… _ not a wig. She tried it again, albeit with not quite as much force as before. She soon realized in full that there was no fooling with the hair and certainly no messy spots under his bangs from a fast hair dye job. That’s when she noticed that even his eyelashes were a dark ginger to match his eyebrows. She realized that she had created a disturbance more than just yanking his hair. His face had grown warm and red at her study and she pulled her hands away from his hair at the realization. His hair stuck up at an odd angle from where she had assaulted the natural lay of his hair.

  
  


“So what? So what you’re not wearing a wig. That doesn’t prove anything. I bet…” she took his glasses off and inspected them. She looked through them, not really caring how impulsive she had been in taking them. No, she had to prove a point. The world was blurry in the magnification of the glasses, definitely not fake glasses. That still doesn’t prove that he’s the real deal, which is absolutely ridiculous in the first place. She doesn’t have to prove it really. Reality is enough to prove him wrong. She whispered a sorry and handed his glasses back.

 

“Alright, so you try to prove it. Go ahead, you can’t, but I’ll humor you just for now.” she stated and he nodded and something like fondness gleamed in his eyes, something that can’t easily be faked and the gaze left her feeling conflicted.

 

“First off, your character’s name in the game was Buttlet because you thought it was funny but you changed the character’s name to your own unironically when you started getting serious with the routes.  Second, the first bad ending you got freaked you out because you didn’t know that bad endings existed and you thought the game was an undercover horror game.” he said, a bittersweet smile crossing his face. She stared at him for a moment before a counter argument popped into her mind. 

 

“Any of my friends could have told you that. That doesn’t prove anything.” she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. He took a breath and began to list off some other things that she could disprove. It was silly to argue, but this guy wouldn’t stop and admit he wasn’t fooling her. 

 

“I know that your brother is a makeup artist and you love him so much and that you sing to your cat, Peaches, almost every night. I know you act as if you don’t care what happens to you, but you work hard at home to make sure that you do more than make it through your assignments. I know that you cried in my route twice. I remember.” he pleaded, his voice strained trying to get her to believe him. 

 

There was no way that he could know about her singing to her cat or that she cried, but both of those could be lucky guesses. Also, doesn’t everyone pretend not to care and then work really hard? He was almost believable, his eyes layered with emotions, with a knowing she couldn’t comprehend. She didn’t say anything and resorted to searching his face for any hint of lie or any crack in his bluff but his voice, his face, his eyes all felt so truthful. There was no way he could possibly be telling the truth but she was almost convinced into believing him. Could there be a sliver of a possibility?

 

She hadn’t realized how close he had gotten to her until his breath tickled her face, his hair brushing hers. She wanted to pull away, to push him and run, but she was fixed in place. Part of her wanted to know what he would say next, uncertain if it is just to hear more of his ridiculous claim or if she wondered if there was any possibility of truth in his words. To make things more complicated, her heart had begun beating rapidly in her chest and she held her breath. He was too close.

 

“I know this because I was there. I was there the whole time feeling your love through the screen. I was there when you cried because you wished there was more than a game, because you didn’t want to face the loneliness again.” he whispered, nothing but genuine truth is his words. This was something no one could no, no guess to be made here. Despite the evidence, she refused to believe it. It was ludacris, insane, impossible. There was no way something like this could ever happen but with each second that he held her gaze, she could see the truth.

 

No, it can’t be. This is all just a coincidence. All just her imagination going wild with the help of some unrelentless joker of a stranger. She couldn’t let herself believe that he could actually be… her hopes couldn’t crash down like that. 

 

“You believe me now, don’t you?” he stated more than asking, his eyes filling with relief and happiness. Had he seen it in her face?

 

The gesture of his fingers reaching up to feel her cheek was enough to ground her in reality and spur her to raise her defense despite her confliction. She batted his hand away before he could touch her skin, sure that if he were to do something affectionate like that, she might actually believe him for real. She looked away from his eyes but not before any serenity is his face shattered at her reaction. She pushed him away, her hands meeting his chest. 

 

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that. It’s impossible and I’m not that naive.” she said and avoided his gaze as she turned towards the printer and and rushed over to grab her ref sheet, keeping her head low as she grabbed her bag and left, not daring to look back afraid that she might actually let herself be convinced of something so ridiculous.

 

When she got to class late, her heartbeat had not yet stilled.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I sob now? 
> 
> I hope the heavy use of some OCs isn't overbearing as MC's friends. They'll mainly be there for comedic relief or as some kind of deus ex machina for MC because of her Stubbornness.
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think and feel free to comment. 
> 
> Thank you!


	3. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven enacts plan B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yoooo, this chapter is shorter but oh well. I really like writing this so far, its really fun. 
> 
> Idk, Seven might be a tad OOC in this chapter, but he is emotionally devastated too.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy.

He had not yet thought over what we would do about a place to sleep. 

 

He sat alone in the university’s dark planetarium, feeling quite sorry for himself. Confined in the game, he had never experienced the whirlwind of being human, of living and breathing like this before. He had never felt hungry, he had never felt the sensation of touch or smell like this. He rubbed his thumbs over the fabric on the reclined chair and he touched his own hair and skin, amazed at the feeling that he had never known. 

 

When she had touched him earlier, touched his hair and when her fingers had brushed his cheeks when the took his glasses of, he thought he might have fainted right there. Just breathing the same air as her was better than he could have ever imagined.

 

Although these new feelings were good in some areas, he had never felt this tired, this pained before let alone hungry. The sticky feeling that his tears had left on his cheeks was something he never wanted to feel again. All of the pain he could feel in this new world could never equate to what he was feeling inside, his heart crying out and that cold and nasty feeling of loneliness and rejection hit him hard. 

 

She hadn’t believed him in the end. She pushed him away and ran, but there was no way he could blame her. Who was he kidding? He can’t just expect her to believe him like that with no solid evidence. He wanted so badly for her to recognise him and accept that he was real, that he was there for her. Putting her in that situation was wrong of him, but he couldn’t have controlled himself to approach it any other way. He was too hopelessly desperate to show his love to her that he didn’t wait. 

 

For a moment, only short moment, a glimmer of realization had passed through her eyes before she pushed it down. She had believed him for only a second and that was enough for him to continue his efforts.

 

Plan A was a bust.

 

Plan B was still being developed, but so far he had hacked himself into enrollment at the university, making sure to include himself in some of her classes but not all of them, to keep himself from arousing her suspicion. He felt bad that he was now doing this, acting like a total creep, but he didn’t know what else to do. He was totally alone in this world now and he had no money or place to stay. All he had was his hacking skills. And so he made himself a fake credit card with a fake amount of money on it so he could buy things like food and clothes. He never had Amazon before, but it was the most useful thing on the internet, he concluded. With his newly hacked wealth, he had gotten the necessities for himself like a charger for his phone, which was at a dangerous low after using it to hack all day, a laptop, at least a week's worth of clothes, and some basic hygiene necessities all with one day shipping. He would have to be sneaky, because he ordered all of it to be shipped to the university’s address.

 

Everything was so hard, but he had made a way to temporarily make it without sleeping on the street or going hungry although all his methods were nothing but criminal. He wondered how he would find a place to stay, determined to figure it out somehow. For now, his plan was to stay in the planetarium until in the morning. It was a Friday evening and the school would be closed all weekend, the silence of the empty building was condemning. He could sleep here all weekend until her figures it out. 

 

The silence was slowly dissipating with the steady growing presence of someone talking and approaching the door. He panicked and tried to spot a place to hide, afraid that his plans to stay all weekend would be foiled if a janitor found him there. It was too late to hide when the door opened, light streaming in and the voice became louder, but it was a voice that was achingly familiar. Just the person he didn’t want to see in his current situation.

 

“No, I haven’t forgotten. I just have to pick up a folder and I’ll be there in less than an hour, okay? Geez, I’m not that invested in my work.” she announced into her phone, which was balanced between her cheek and shoulder as she let the door slam behind her, freeing her hand to grab the device.

 

“Besides, it was you who made us cancel Wednesday because of AGHH!!!” She nearly threw her phone and her shriek echoed through the dome of an amphitheater. She bent over and clutched her chest, muttering a curse to herself. She had seen him there in the chair. She lifted the phone back to her ear.

 

“Sorry, sorry. I’m fine. Another student got looked in the planetarium.” she said to the person on the other line, giving a nervous and apologetic chuckle. “I gotta go, but I’ll text when I’m on my way.” she said, hangin up and making her way up into the control booth for the planetarium. The lights flickered on in the booth and the ball in the center of the amphitheater whirred into action under whatever commands came from the booth, lights streaming out and speckling the dome with the galaxy, beautiful patterns of blue, yellow, purple, and pink stars shown as brightly as if it were real. He was stunned by the display but only got to view that particular scene for a few moments before the display shown many different constellations and different planets and dwarf planets long enough for Myung to do whatever she was doing in the booth.

 

As suddenly as it appeared, the machines whirred off and the lights faded. The room began as dark as before. The brunette inside the booth shut the lights of, flashdrive in hand as she made her way to the door stopping in her tracks when she saw that the figure in the dark was still there. 

 

“Hey! You, there. Why haven’t you left yet? Count your lucky stars that someone else didn’t find you in here.” she called out into the darkness at him. Oh, she didn’t recognise him in the dark. “You better leave, as the president of the astrology club, only I can let people in and out of here after school hours.” she announced, throwing her authority into place to state that she was serious.

 

He didn’t answer hoping that she would just leave but she flicked the main lights on without hesitation, exposing him. He squeezed his eyes shut at the brightness. Before he could react, she was already marching down the steps towards him.

 

“You! What on earth are you doing in here?” she accused, shoving the flash drive into her bag. He wondered if he should run while he had the chance, but he stayed frozen there. What could he possibly do to answer her? He couldn’t admit “yeah, i’m pathetically homeless and lost and so I snuck in like a rabid raccoon.” because it wouldn’t smooth out the situation at all and she would think he had lost it. 

 

“Well…?” she questioned impatiently, her eyebrows furrowed in her seriousness and authority. He took a deep breath and muttered out his answer, given no choice at this point.

 

“I… I was going to sleep here… but I can leave.” he admitted, his heart ached at his own confession. Now she was going to kick him out and avoid him forever and he wasn’t ready for it. What more could befall upon him?

 

She stared back at him with her shocked brown eyes, her aggressive stance dropping.

 

“Sleeping? Why would you…?” and then it hit her and he flinched back, awaiting her disappointment. He knew she wouldn’t be mean to him, but he knew her kindness would be worse for him. “That’s not good, you can’t sleep here.” she stated and he braced himself.

 

She stood and thought for a moment, her pondering expression evident as she bit her lip and looked at the ceiling. She let out a whoosh of breath and closed her eyes.

 

“Don’t make me regret this, but I can help you out… maybe. Let me make a phone call.” What? She was going to help him? How? She pulled her phone out and speed dialed a number, tapping her foot as she waited. He stared at her in disbelief and anticipation. She was going to try and help him even after the shock he gave her earlier that day? Even if she had believed him earlier, the fear of being vulnerable to him could keep her away but now she was ignoring that? She was an angel. A saint. And he didn’t deserve this.

 

“Hey, Junji, you still have that extra bedroom?” she asked when the line picked up and she waited for the answer before asking, “Oh, good. I have someone here who may be interested in it. He’s a ... _ friend _ of mine, so I think he won’t be much trouble,” she shot him a warning glance before continuing, “How much would you want in rent?” she waited and beamed up at the answer.

 

“Wow, really? Yeah, thanks, I’ll tell him. Bye, love ya.” and with that she hung up the phone and turned to him. 

 

“Okay. Listen. I know earlier was crazy, but because of your situation, I’m going to forget it and we’re going to start over, okay? My brother said he’d let you stay for free as long as you help with chores and cook sometimes. Is that okay?” she spilled out, trying to drop the awkwardness in her voice. 

 

“Yes, that’s great. Really.” He said, despite wanting to crush her in a hug. His heart was beginning to go crazy. Was this actually happening or had he fallen asleep and dreamt this? 

 

“Great. That’s right, starting over.” she cleared her throat and held her hand out for a hand shake. “Hello, My name is Myung cha and my hobbies are reading, playing games, watching horribly bad horror movies, and astrology. And you are?” she gave her best mock etiquette class introduction and he shook her hand gladly.

 

“Hello, this is Sae- um… Chilyoung Choi and my hobbies are playing video games, making things, business investment, and also watching horribly bad horror movies along with listening to laughably bad eighties music.” he said, almost slipping up and saying his real name. She nodded and a smile graced her lips.

 

“Not bad. Do your hobbies also include watching two drunk girls do laughably bad karaoke or should I just go ahead and take you to my brother’s apartment?” she asked, glancing at the time.

 

“I’ve never seen laughably bad karaoke, so that would be awesome. Are they the two girls from earlier?” he asked, shrinking back at the thought of seeing those two who might not want him near their friend.

 

“Earlier? We met two seconds ago, what do you mean?” she teased, still firm in pretending that nothing weird happened before. “Oh, about that,  _ 707,  _ have you eaten yet?” she asked, poking fun at earlier and the game mechanics that involved that question. His heart lurched at his nickname being said by her, despite it being a joke to try and resolve the tension. He wanted her to realize that he was Seven, but being her friend under the guise of  _ Chilyoung _ wasn’t so bad. As long as he was close to her in some way, it was good enough to be her friend and start as a stranger. He had been staring at her, really mulling over his inner turmoils and getting lost in the fact that she was  _ tangible and in front of him _ . 

 

“Yes, sort of...No.. I had a bag of chips and soda.” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. The girl frowned at him and pulled out her key.

 

“Well, the karaoke bar has some good choices on the menu. Just stay away from the sushi. It’s instant food poisoning there.” she stated and began up the stairs, glancing back at him. 

 

“Come on. My friends are waiting.” she said, gesturing for him to follow her. He felt his worries fade as he followed her to the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've kinda picked up the pace with this.
> 
> Do you think Myung actually knows what the hell she thinks about him? Not a chance. She is so confused omg and that comes out in the next chapter.
> 
> Feel free to comment and thanks for reading.


	4. Neon lights and Game glitch frights.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karaoke with two overly mischievous girls wasn't the best idea, Myung realized too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are liking this so far. If you are wondering where I got the name Chilyoung, there was apparently a thing in the Special Believer package about a student who mysteriously disappeared and looked like Seven under that name, but feel free to correct me. It was just something I saw on Tumblr.
> 
> So that's worth looking into in my opinion.

The car ride to the karaoke bar had been very awkward. The man had gratefully gotten into her car and thanked her profusely despite her making it known that it was no big deal. During the ride, he told her he was a transfer student and was in some of the same classes that she was enrolled in. After that, he had grown quiet as if he were thinking on something for the rest of the ride. Truthfully, she had some thinking to do as well, so she just turned up the radio until they arrived outside the brightly lit building. 

 

No matter what she did, Myung’s thoughts went back to the guy sitting silently next to her, staring vacantly out the window with a melancholy gaze. Despite the fact that it was absolutely insane and illogical in every way, a part of her wondered how he had known what he did, a part of her wondered if he was telling the truth is the print room. Against her better judgment, she had invited him out and hooked him up with a place to stay at her brother’s place. 

 

Maybe it was because she wanted him close enough to catch his bluff, close enough to watch to assuage her own curiosity and find her answer from observation. Perhaps she was just taking pity and helping a guy out, she didn’t know. It was both yet neither in her mind. Either way, she had no intention of letting the guy think anything other than that she absolutely did not believe him and that he was just joking, which is what the most logical part of her screamed. But the logical part of her couldn’t dare explain why she had let him get so regretfully close to her face, so close to touching her in that printing room. She tried not to let the thoughts bubble up and tinge her face pink, but she had failed even with him sitting next to her. She was certain he hadn’t noticed.

 

The one thing she did know when it came to “Chilyoung” was that he  _ looked _ like Seven. He really did look like the character had jumped straight from her phone and into the passenger seat. She asked around and nobody she knew admitted to getting him to dress up or pranking her or any scenario in which he could be dressed up but he  _ had _ to have. Where on earth would her friends find an actual ginger korean boy anyways? He didn’t even look like he had contacts in with how natural and authentic they look. He could make cosplayers sob for all their effort. The weirdest part about this was that he didn’t admit to being dressed up or a prank effort afterward. He just apologized and went on with it, not continuing acting like the character, but effortlessly reminding her of him despite now saying he was a transfer student named Chilyoung. It was just too much.

 

“We’re here. Are you ready to hear the drunk singing of many partygoers for like two hours?” She asked with a laugh, trying to cheer the guy up. He gave her a nod and a half hearted smile.

 

“Also, if either of my friends try and make you go up there and sing, you don’t have to be polite. Just tell them to fuck off, alright?” she joked with a hint of seriousness. Her friends were both relentless when it came to trying and make her go up there and sing. Almost every time they went, to this place, they both begged her to go up there and so she made a promise. Every three times they went, she would go up and sing only one song and be done for another three visits. 

 

With that, they both left the car and headed inside. The roar of the bar flooded out into the brightly lit street, the neon stark against the night sky. She leads the redhead in to the same table her friend’s and her claimed every time they went. The smell of various meals and alcohol flooded her senses and a lady crooned her heart out upon the brightly lit stage in the corner. The main bar was busy and full of friends talking. Lights and neon signs covered every wall and a large display screen showed the lyrics, and on some nights, music videos.

 

“Myung, over here!” Yuki called out, Seongeun already swaying in her seat. Go figure, she always gets drunk first. As she sat down, she watched as the mystery guy of the night sat with her, a nervous look on his face. This didn’t escape the notice of the blonde, who was taking another sip of her whiskey.

 

“Don’t be so shy. You’re the first guy Myung’s ever invited out with us so you must be special.” she teased through her slurred speech. The redhead perked up at that and gave Myung a look to confirm it. Myung nodded.

 

“Seongeun, it’s not like that. He’s a new student, so we all three are gonna be his buddies, right?” her voice raised in a coaxing way and Yuki nodded. The blonde pulled out a slip of paper from her purse and scribbled her phone number on it. She slid it to him, who reluctantly took in and gave it a look over. 

 

“There. If you have any questions about homework or class, you can text me...or if you don’t want to text about class?” she winked at him in her usual flirtatious way. Yuki snatched the paper away and added her own number to it.

 

“You perv! Keep your vagina shut.” she called her out, and then turned her dark eyes towards the guy. “Ask me if you have any questions because  _ I  _ pay  _ attention _ .” she said as a stab to the blonde who frowned. She slid the paper to Myung, who wrote her phone number down too as she listened to the bickering.

 

“Umm, excuse me? Text her if you want her to scam you. You literally stole a piece of my gum the other day, you thief.” she quipped back, her eyes darted over in a hateful manner. Her comeback didn’t really make much sense but it sparked a bit of mischief in the auburn haired girl’s eyes. Before she had a chance to give any teasing remark, Myung taped the pen on the table.

 

“Guys, stop.” Myung said passing the paper back to the redhead, who was caught in the middle of all of this. He took the paper and folded it nicely before putting it in his pocket. Both the girls looked at each other and smirked between themselves. Oh no.

 

“Well, we can both agree that Myung is a dull mom who doesn’t like fun.” the blonde said, giving a shrug as if she couldn’t deny it. The short-haired girl nodded and swirled her drink in her glass.

 

“Jail time and herpes is not my idea of fun but apparently hanging out with friends who wanna trash talk me is.” she said, mocking disappointment. Before any counter-argument could take form, a peppy server bounced up to take their order. 

 

“I’ll just have a glass of wine and that’s it.” she stated, her friends groaned in disappointment. They always made it their goal to talk her into drinking more or drinking something stronger to get her more “loose”. 

 

The server looked expectantly at the redhead, clicking her pen. He turned towards the brunette and shrugged, his eyes seeming to ask her advice. He doesn’t know what to order?

 

“I don’t really drink, I’m just kinda hungry.” he stated and she motioned for him to come closer. She didn’t necessarily want the server to hear her other plans. He obeyed and leaned in, face hovering over her shoulder.

 

“We’ll get something to eat when we leave here, okay? I’d rather not eat here tonight but if you still want to order food, go ahead.” she whispered into his ear, not wanting to embarrass him. She hoped he could hear her in the buzz around them.

 

“Okie dokie, I gotcha.” he whispered back and they both straightened up. The server got ready and the two girls watched him as he ordered… rather, didn’t order.

 

“I’m not going to have anything, thank you.” He responded, giving the server a polite smile despite the two others staring him down. They both groaned at his answer just as they had done with Myung, disappointed that they both turned down the booze.

 

“Actually, get him a shot of vodka. Do you like fruity stuff?” Yuki piped up, and Myung shot her a look. The auburn haired girl didn’t give the guy a chance to answer, “Get him the green apple flavored shot and put it on my tab.” she confirmed. 

 

“No, really. I don’t like to-” he was cut off in his protest by the blonde, who had caught onto the other girl’s drift. Sometimes, despite their endless bickering, it seemed like they had the same thought process. 

 

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m sure Yuki doesn’t mind. It’ll be fun, you’ll see!” she beamed up and shooed the server off with a flick of her hand. The server didn’t wait for another sign and scurried away with the orders. The guy looked mortified that the two girls pulled that so quickly and so in sync. Myung shook her head, too use to their shenanigans at this point.

 

“They could talk someone into murder. If you really don’t want the drink, then you don’t have to drink it.” the brunette reassured, brushing her fingers through her hair. Yuki shook her head in retort.

 

“Uh-uh. He needs to relax and I’m not letting that shot go to waste. Besides, you shouldn’t mother him too. Geez.” she said, shaking her bangs from her eyes. “What’s the difference with vodka and wine, anyway?” she said stupidly, her own alcoholic influence surfacing in her mood. The brunette rolled her eyes and cast a glance at the redhead, who was watching quietly, afraid to say anything, letting Myung handle her friends being his game plan.

 

“The difference is that I can still drive home after a glass of wine. And I’m not carrying a drunk man into a car.” she said, not really caring if it embarrassed the man next to her. She was just trying to get Yuki to shut up. Seongeun propped her elbows on the tables to steady herself before she spoke.

 

“Myung, one shot isn’t going to knock him on his ass. It’s one shot and look at him! He probably has a better tolerance than you.” she reasoned, and the brunette agreed. He should be fine. She turned to him and also propped her elbow on the table, laying her head in her palm. He looked at her expectantly.

 

“One shot. That’s it, no more than that. Are you okay with that?” she asked, watching his face which was illuminated by pink light from a sign. This had been the first time since earlier that she had gotten to study his face again, almost losing her breath at him. No, no. No need for that, she mentally told herself. He contemplated it for a moment and with the peer pressure, he cracked.

 

“Okay, I’ll try it. It’s green apple so it’ll probably taste good, right?” he half asked and Myung gave him a non-committal nod. She guessed it would taste good? She hadn’t personally had the apple flavor. In no time at all, the server came back with the drinks and doled them out to the two. 

 

As she took a sip of the wine, she decided that the night wasn’t half bad so far.

  
  
  
  


The brunette struggled to get her apartment door opened under the weight of the intoxicated man. She was careful in that she didn’t want to shove him and have him fall straight to the ground, yet he was too heavy for her to support and open the door.

 

The shot of vodka had NOT been a good idea. Not only did he almost cry when it burned his throat, but it alone was enough to make him overly tipsy. He wasn’t wasted drunk, but he definitely wasn’t sober. Hell, she could have handled it way better than him even after a two glasses of wine. Right after drinking it, he did seem to loosen up and he did tell some good jokes. One of her favorite being a joke that went. “If I were to get a tattoo, it would be a whole body tattoo of me but taller.” and it earned a hoot from her but the fun ended when Seongeun ran off with some guy and Yuki started in on trying to get Myung to dance with her as Chilyoung became more and more drunken by the influence of the shot. And then right after that, her brother called her and told her he wasn’t ready for a guest tonight, but he should be later.

 

So that left her in the spot she didn’t want in the first place. Half dragging a half drunk guy that she had just met who had flipped her mentality upside down into her apartment at midnight.

 

The door swung open and she helped steady the staggering redhead to the couch. He plopped down and held his head in his hands, regretting his decision just as much as she did. His face was dyed red from the influence and he had grown hot in his hoodie. He lazily took it off and she took it from him to drape it over a chair with her own jacket. She whispered to him that she was fetching him a bottle of water and headed to the kitchen to grab it. She quickly handed it to him, his golden eyes dazed as he stared at it for a few moments. She wondered if he had ever drunk in his life because he certainly didn’t seem to be familiar with the feeling.

 

Her apartment was not giant, but it was good enough for someone to stay the night. She left him on the couch, trusting that his state was enough to keep him from trying to steal anything. Fishing through a linen closet, she found an extra comforter and took a pillow from her own bed. When she returned with a bundle of fluffy bed material, she noticed a familiar pillow in his hands that he had picked up off the couch. It was her 707 merch pillow that she had bought at a con. He was studying it as he took another gulp of water, almost having emptied it. She placed the bundle next to him and took no time in taking the pillow from his hands. 

 

“That’s mine.” she said with no other explanation, feeling embarrassment for allowing him to see it, just as she would if a celebrity were to see a poster of themselves on her wall...which was ridiculous, right? Because this wasn’t a situation like that and he wasn’t a video game character. She placed the pillow to the side and fixed his “bed” as she tried to come up with a solution to what he could where to sleep in. 

 

She went back, still content with her own trust in the guy that he wouldn’t do anything harmful to her living room. She found one of her brother’s shirts and a pair of her own oversized sweatpants. This could work, right? She rushed down the hall and gave her guest the makeshift pajamas and found her cat curled up in his lap. She smiled to herself at her cat’s friendliness. He seemed happily content with stroking the calico’s soft fur, having taken his glasses off and placed them on the coffee table. It was almost endearing. He hadn’t noticed her standing there until she cleared her throat.

 

“That’s my kitty, Peaches.” she announced and he looked up and gave her a tipsy smile, his 

eyes crinkling up slightly.

 

“I know.” he admitted before realizing his mistake, “Umm, I know she is your cat. Obviously, because the neighbor’s cat wouldn’t be in your apartment… yeah.” he covered, but she paid no mind and set the large shirt and large sweatpants on the arm of the couch. 

 

“The bathroom is down the hall to the left. You can help yourself to whatever is in the kitchen. Is the water helping any yet?” she asked, having noticed that he didn’t seem as agonized by his intoxication. He took a moment to respond through his slowed reaction, his speech slurred a bit.

 

“Yeah. It’s making me feel a bit better, less nauseous,” he admitted, his expression neutral and almost innocent. He must be sleepy, she concluded.

 

“That’s nice. You can get another bottle of water if you want. Also, here are some pj’s, so you can change in the bathroom.” she responded, yawning herself. She watched as he carefully urged the cat off his lap and swayed slightly as he stood, taking the fresh change of clothes. He stopped in front of her and they held eye contact for a moment, his amber eyes staring into hers. He took another step forward and wrapped his arms around her for the second time today, resting his weary head on her shoulder. Despite not wanting him to hug her, she stayed still and waited for him to be done. He didn’t seem to have any ill intention. He was warm and his hug would have been comforting if she was expecting it.

 

“Thank you for taking care of me. I’ll make this up to you somehow.” he promised, his words muddled. His chest vibrated as he spoke and she began to want to push him away. She didn’t have to act as he pulled away at her tenseness. “You’re a real angel from space.” ...from space? What? His voice held a sincerity that convinced her it was a compliment. She averted her gaze and scooted away.

 

“It’s no problem. You don’t have to repay me.” she said and he was content with that. He went past her to go change. She let go of a breath she had been holding, not necessarily scared before but… she couldn’t place it. She just needed to go to sleep and forget all of this for now. It would be more clear in the morning and this stupid complex about Chilyoung will have gone away. She’ll come to her senses and stop inadvertently… hoping for more? Is that what she was doing? Hoping for some sign to actually believe his claim? To believe that he was actually a video game character that she loved as much as she could love a person?

 

It’ll all go away in the morning and she won’t have to worry about him. Yeah. 

 

With that thought, she locked the door and retreated to her room for the night. She stayed quiet in her room for almost an hour scrolling through her phone to distract herself. It didn’t help that he used her number to send her a text.

 

_ Goodnight and thank you again. _

 

It wasn’t much, but it didn’t help. She couldn’t come up with a solution until she absentmindedly scrolled through her apps.

 

That’s right! She’ll just play this and it’ll prove that the guy in the living room has absolutely nothing to do with her favorite phone game. She clicked on the Mystic Messenger app icon and felt quite satisfied with her decision. She’ll just start a bad ending that she hasn’t gotten yet and realized that the guy just got into her mind this morning. That’s all. She’s stressed and a hapless joke just stirred her up. 

 

She watched the into screen come and pass and she started from a save slot. She watched as the screen popped up the usual set up with the emails, messages, and chat rooms in the center under the character profiles. There was something off at first sight, one less user profile. She stared in disbelief as she scanned the four profiles present. Jumin, Zen, Yoosung, and then Jaehee. No Seven. Her heart dropped and she sat up in bed. Her fingers acted on their own and she called the character, not even a dial tone sounded like usual. Just silence and then the music on the main screen as the call ended on it’s own. An app glitch? 

 

She went into the chatroom and found all of the previous gameplay with Seven’s chats gone. What was happening? She can’t be expected to believe that the missing character was in her living room, was she? No, there has to be something that disproves it. 

 

She shakily got out of her bed, leaving her phone on her pillow. She crept into the living room, trying to be as quiet as possible. She peered over the back of the couch and confirmed that the figure laying there was asleep. She slowly made her way around and kneeled in front of his figure, his chest rising and falling as a peaceful expression was etched into his face. He was snuggled up on his side, his arms brought to his chest. She looked all over his face for any sign, any indication that he was looked different from the character. 

 

With as gentle a touch as she could manage to avoid disturbing his sleep, she leaned over and pulled his arm towards her, her fingers tracing over his wrist and palm. Even the hairs on his arm were that reddish ginger color. She once again lifted his bangs up to make for certain that she hadn’t missed any clues earlier. She noticed how soft his hair was and how it held the warmth from his face. Easing his hair back over his forehead, she hesitated as her fingers hovered over his face. With some found courage, she brought her fingers to his cheek to feel for any makeup, any foolery there. Her breath hitched as he moved a bit in his sleep. She would  _ die _ if he woke up and found her touching him so creepily. She carefully pulled her hand away, afraid if she jerked her hand away, it would wake him more.

 

None of this had proved anything either way, it hadn’t proved that he wasn’t a video game character, but it hadn’t proved that he was either.

 

What was she even kidding? It was just a game glitch. This guy being someone who she talked to through a game was impossible. Simply impossible. 

 

She was stressed and because some stranger showed up, her imagination had gotten the best of her after a joke. That’s all. 

 

“A girl can dream, can’t she? Shame.” she whispered to herself before pushing herself up and defeatedly walking back to her bedroom. She hopped in bed and passed out fairly quickly after that, finally able to take her mind off of him.

 

After he was sure she was gone, his sleep being disturbed, he yawned and touched his face where her fingers had been. He was too asleep to fully react but he smiled to himself.  _ A girl can dream, can’t she? _

 

“I wish you could let yourself dream, my only love.” he answered too late to himself, his heart fluttering as he drifted back to sleep.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOO. She almost got it, but she sabotaged herself in the end. At least it brought some ease of mind to our precious space boy, right?
> 
> Thank you for reading and comment if you like. Ciao.


End file.
